


A Treacherous Place The Past Is

by enenrayokai



Category: Numb3rs
Genre: Charlie Centric, Gen, Light Angst, Military Charlie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-10-27 20:19:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10815996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enenrayokai/pseuds/enenrayokai
Summary: All it had taken was one day for everything to slip into chaos.  One moment Charlie was being Charlie, the overzealous mathematician and the next he was unrecognizable.  Everything was different now.  Charlie was different.  A man in uniform, a military man, Colby had guessed, looking for Charlie had been all it took for Don to realize he didn't know his brother as well as he had originally believed.





	1. I Know You Know Me, But Do You Know That?

Don was frustrated, he was continuously checking his watch awaiting the arrival of his now very late younger brother. Charlie had sworn he would drop by with the maps and finalized locations hours ago. The case was not going according to plan, and time was definitely a factor. Don just couldn't understand why Charlie never could understand that- he seemed to always be late.

Don checked his watch again, before he was given a knowing glare from Megan. He dipped his head in acknowledgement and took a few deep breaths in hope to calm his nerves. Before anything more could be said a smile danced on Colby's lips as he watched a frantic Charlie enter the area of desks.

His head was down and his steps were hurried, a bundle of papers and folders held precariously in his arms. He stumbled slightly after running into an agent passing through and gave a mumbled, halfhearted apology.

He stopped abruptly before his older brother, his brows knit in concern.

"Sorry, sorry. I was-- I was just, um, got caught up in some work at school." Charlie gave as a relative answer to his lateness. Before his brother could give a heated reply, Megan moved forward, now closer to the brothers.

"Don't worry about it Charlie, you're here now, so what do you got?" Her tone was light. Her eyes lingered on Don before she focused her gaze on the younger man. She smiled reassuringly and Charlie moved closure to one of the glass boards.

"Right, well I've narrowed it down to these three banks." Charlie haphazardly taped a map onto the board leaving space to the right of the paper so he could still write beside it. He wrote a few unintellectual scribbles upon the smooth surface before turning to the occupants of the room.

"Um, right, so the robbers are using a wave frequency that overrides the security systems. Basically it acts like some resonance frequencies act on bridges. You know, if a large group of people march in synchronization over a bridge they can cause the bridge to collapse? Well, if their marching matches the natural resonance of the bridge, it makes the structural integrity--"

"Dumb it down for us Charlie." Colby's voice pierced the air. Charlie looked up wide eyed, but nodded.

"Right so, basically the robbers are able to find the natural frequency of the security systems of some banks, when they send out the sound waves it confuses the system. That's how they can get in and out without tripping any alarms. There're confusing the system long enough to walk in and walk out.

"And, by my guess it has to be at least a group of four based on the dynamic of the crime scenes. Four people at least."

"Wait Charlie, there are only three people on the bank security cameras." David questioned.

"Right, but the likelihood of a forth person is high based on the statistical analysis of the body movement, the time efficiency of the group--"

"Got it Charlie."

Don gave a brief shake of his head and looked over to David, "Call those three banks Charlie gave us, update them. Megan, talk to Charlie, maybe we can figure out more about these people. Maybe run some probabilities or something with Charlie." He looked over toward his brother and watched as he scrunched up his face at the the poor use of scientific terms.

"Colby, you're with me. Let's see if we can talk to some of the IT boys. Figure out how they are overriding these bank systems."

Everyone nodded their head in approval, and after a few seconds everyone had begun their designated job.

Megan took a few steady strides to get closer to Charlie and she caught his arm before he nearly fell over. He thanked her quietly, bowing his head slightly. "So what are you thinking Charlie?" Her voice was curious.

He looked up from all his papers, now chaotically placed upon the desk, and he titled his head slightly to his right in contemplation. "Likely it's only a group of four, there're efficient. There is the highest probability for a four man crew, mostly likely with an alpha male leading. It would explain why it always seems like one person is doing more than the others and why only three enter the bank."

"You know, maybe the leader is somehow related to the individual that we see doing most of the work. Some kind of trust that the person will get the job done."

Megan gave a nod of her head, and wrangled the mathematician toward the computer room in hope to review some of the security tapes they were sent.

It took a second, but in one moment Charlie was hunched before her, back slightly curved and his head bent so his dark curls obscured his features and the next he's posed and graceful. It was like a whole different person was standing in front of her.

This was not the messy, chaotic Charlie she knew. His demeanor was regal, demanding obedience and calling for authority. She followed his gaze toward a man standing at the entrance of the floor, such man was holding Charlie's gaze just as intently as Charlie was holding his.

It seemed as if time had stopped, and perhaps for those two it had. Megan called a second time, hoping to catch Charlie's attention.

"Charlie, hey. You okay?" Something seemed to break his daze, his eyes wide and alert.

Once his mind seemed to fully focus on the agent before him he mumbled a, "huh" before shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Who is that?" She watched as Charlie shook his head and met her eyes. He was nervous, never had he thought he would be seeing this man again. Before a reply could be made, Colby strode into the room with Don in tow.

Don spared a quick look toward Megan and he immediately knew something was off. Something was happening. That was when he turned his gaze to his brother.

Charlie stood tall, standing at his full height. His shoulders were rolled back and relaxed. His entire body reeked of authority. His posture lazy but controlled. He was a man who everyone followed. He was not his little brother. Not in that moment.

Don gave a questioning look toward Megan. She shook her head briefly before watching as the man that had caught Charlie's attention entered the main area.

Before Charlie had been able to reach the intruder, Colby had intercepted the man.

"I am Colby, and who might you be?" He questioned. Straight forward and casual. Colby was stiff, his broad shoulders blocked the younger Eppes from view.

Colby had immediately gone into soldier mode, he had recognized the stranger as a military man immediately. The stranger was a few inches taller than him, his hair a dark brown and cut short. The man had strode in confidently, a cocky smirk upon his lips. It had unhinged the ex soldier in Colby.

The tension in the room led to a deathly quiet environment and it was Charlie that broke the silence.

"Back down soldier." The tone was firm, commanding. It dared anyone to disobey. It took longer than usually for Colby to realize the order was directed at him. He stepped back, and took a glance back at Charlie in shock.

When he looked back toward the timid mathematician, what he saw left his mind reeling. Feet from him was a confident man, not that Charlie was not confident, but he exuded power. Demanded an audience.

The man before him was someone who could lead men to war with bold and cautious steps. Charlie had his shoulders taught and level, his feet spread for a solid and strategic stance. His head was level, eyes aflame. His tone fierce.

Colby backed down, he took cautious steps backward which brought him in line with Don. By this point, everyone in the general area had their eyes on the commotion of Don's team and his little brother.

Everyone seemed to be in some form of shock. The group standing in the room watched as the stranger walked further into the room with his head bowed before the mathematician.

"Valkyrie company has been activated." That was all it took. Charlie's world was about to be turned upside down.


	2. Am I Nothing More Than Who Surrounds Me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter everyone! Some new past events come up that will be further explained as the story progresses. This is just to get the ball rolling. Enjoy!
> 
> Thanks for those who left comments- it drives me to update sooner! :) Cheers!

Everything was wrong. He looked different. He stood differently, hell he even was talking differently. It was his baby brother, but it wasn't either. Don watched in wonder as the man he had began to reconnect with morphed into someone he hardly recognized.

The entire room stood in stark silence, a grand contrast to the usually bustling workplace. Megan stood a few feet behind Charlie her eyes locked on his back, staring holes into his head.

Her posture was a forced relaxed, her arms were crossed and her stance was alert. She was taking everything in, hoping to understand what had caused such a dynamic change in the young mathematician.

David was near Don, their shoulders nearly touched. Neither man could take their eyes off of the stranger who seemed to be intently looking at Charlie. Then there was Colby, his gaze was firmly placed on Charlie, his gaze never wavering. His eyes curious and confused.

The air seemed to shift and in a flickering moment everyone watched as Charlie's face contorted in displeasure before a carefully constructed mask of indifference covered his features. A misplaced smirked lingered on his lips.

"Everyone is waiting for you to take command. It's your operation Charlie." The tone was quiet. It was stern, but held a gentleness that seemed almost fond. The military man bowed his head in respect and stood still, waiting; what for, only Charlie could guess.

"Right," Charlie took a moment to compose himself, he straightened himself up and brought a hand through his hair in a vary uncharacteristic manner before he continued, "meet me at the base in two hours, 1200 sharp." It was an order, one not to be undermined.

The words rung in the air, soft, but demanding. The man nodded, took one last look at Charlie before he turned abruptly and left just as quickly as he had entered.

Moments passed in silence, until everything seemed to fall back into place and the room erupted in its usual chaos. People rushed back to work, people passing through continued on their way. Time seemed to reconnect with the world, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened; but Don's team knew better.

Just as swiftly as Charlie had become this stranger, he sagged his shoulders and let out a shaky breath. Charlie had known this would happen, had been waiting for it- but all the while had hoped it never would.

Team Don collected themselves before gathering in a conference room to the right of Charlie. They had managed to herd him into the area, effectively cornering the man. Don was going to get some answers and he was going to get them now.

Upon immediately entering the room Charlie had fallen unceremoniously into an open chair; but despite the action there was still some sense of grace that had suddenly become essential to Charlie's entire being.

A strange feeling of exhaustion swept over him. He rubbed his head in exasperation before he shook his head once to clear his racing mind. Now was not the time to fall apart.

"Hey, buddy. What was that?" His tone was soft. Don dipped his head to meet Charlie's gaze before his brother stood and strode forward as a way to distance himself, and looked back at his friends. Something flickered in his eyes and his brother knew that something was about to happen. Dread filled his entire body.

What could be called guilt flashed upon Charlie's face before it was concealed, as if it had never really been there; and Don wasn't really sure it had been.

"I am sorry Don, but I need to leave." His folders, maps, and papers were all but forgotten, still placed chaotically on a table not too far away.

Before anyone else could speak, Charlie turned on his heels and left without a second glance back at the stunned people he had left behind. He had a job to do, Valkyrie company was his responsibility. They were his people, his burden now.

It was time he stepped up to the occasion. He was on his own, and the activation of Valkyrie company could only mean one thing- his operation was back in play.

He remembered when it had all begun, he was young then. He had been ill prepared but one of the lucky ones to make it out okay. While at Princeton he had managed to become a steadfast member of an on campus group called The Kitsunes.

A Kitsune, according to Japanese folklore was an intelligent and magical being. Known for its ability to make illusions that seem like reality and the notion that the creature thrives through changes over time. Experience through living gives the creature strength.

When Charlie had first heard of the group, he had cocked his head and gone home to google a 'Kitsune'. He had attended his first meeting with the intention to discover why on earth they had named their group after a creature from Japanese folklore, it hardly inspired members to join. The answer had been simple.

"We are interested in change, and growth through experience, Charlie. Just like the Kitsune may find strength through age. You know, the immediate translation is 'fox'. This group is interested in experiencing life and gaining strength from such. We are the foxes of society whose goal is to learn so we may change the world."

The man's voice had been genuine. The leader of the group was charming, he had a megawatt smile and stunning green eyes. His voice was a consistent whispered tone, but it seemed to draw people in, it made people want to listen.

"You see Charlie," He had implored, "this is a place to take the hard sciences and integrate them into the real world. To use the numbers and equations to let us manipulate and create."

That was all it had taken. Charlie, young and innocent, had been captivated. The man had been honest and real. He would return the next week and stay for the entirety of the meeting. The Kitsunes spent time talking about implications of particular aspects of different people's academic interests.

How could math impact government and military agencies, how the laws of physics might limit society, the role of psychology in human interaction, and so on; it was a place to find the real implications of what Charlie had prized. It was a bridge for the young prodigy. His way to take all the numbers and symbols and make them understandable.

It had been one of the few simple places where he could put away the numbers and bounce real scenarios off of other people. It was where he had shifted his gaze from pure mathematics to applied mathematics. Math was more than numbers on a chalk board, it was life, it was everything.

He could just hear Caffrey laughing at him, saying without the group he probably wouldn't be nearly as good at explaining his math on an everyday level; and Charlie could suppose that he would be right.

It had been casual, the people had been kind enough. It had been just one of those miscellaneous places to spend time, nothing noteworthy or particularly outstanding. It wasn't anything serious, just a place to throw some ideas around. It wasn't until a few months with the group that he was approached by the man he would later know as Caffrey. 

Charlie had walked out of the meeting and had bumped into Caffrey. Upon contact Charlie had immediately looked up, eyes wide with what seemed like shock. The man had smiled, rested a hand on Charlie's shoulder and asked if he was Charlie Eppes. Charlie had nodded lamely and followed the man to a classroom not too far from where they had stood.

Caffrey's voice had been stern when he questioned, "That group, they call themselves The Kitsunes, yes?" The stranger's eyes had been hesitant and guarded. In response, the young man had nodded. The man before him had given a subtle nod of his head before giving another disarming smile and walking away.

It would be a few more months later that Charlie would see Caffrey again. It would be in a room with white walls and dim lights. It would be in a room meant for interrogations.


	3. I Was a Different Man Once

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi y'all! Hope you enjoy this chapter, remember comments are my lifeline :0. The next couple of chapters should be more in the present rather than about the past. 
> 
> This chapter is more about the past, kinda giving some setting to Charlie's past. Got to lay the ground work, you know? ;) Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> PS. All mistakes are my own, haven't had time to find a beta for my works

Charlie had gone straight home, there had been a few things he needed to collect before he could leave. It had been strange to see Caffrey again, even stranger to see him in his present life.

His worlds were colliding. He could feel his heart being pulled in two directions, but Charlie knew better. He knew his duty, he knew what he had to do.

It had been humbling to see one of America's finest soldiers showing such respect to him- he had never stopped wondering why people gave him such respect. It had never ceased to amaze him.

It was surreal for Charlie to watch as Caffrey gave over the reign of the company for him to run as he saw fit- almost as stunning as the first time it had happened.

It had been years ago. After Charlie had been questioned by Caffrey- back when he was at Princeton- the young prodigy had learned that the Kitsunes were more than what they openly appeared to be.

Terrorists, Caffrey had called them as he had continued to ask if Charlie was one of 'them'. That dreaded word, what had it meant to be one of 'them'? Charlie had found a place with those people, a place where he was understood and accepted.

It had been a low blow, being told that the people you are with are bad people. Charlie had spent the weeks following the conversation in denial. Impossible, he had thought.

When he had finally realized the truth, he had accepted Caffrey's proposal. He would help bring them down- a member on the inside was what they needed; and with Charlie, it was exactly what they had gotten.

After a few months undercover and working with the United States Military, Charlie would be given the lead on the operation.

Caffrey had approached the kid and smiled, the same disarming and crooked smile. "You did it baby boy."

Charlie had blushed at the nick name and dipped his head in awkward acknowledgement. Big brown eyes met the fair face of his friend and a smile spread through his lips.

"You're officially a member of the military, Charlie. The operation, your operation; it's officially yours.

"But, I-- no, it can't be. It's you operation-- I can't do it, I can't--"

Charlie was cut off by a small chuckle. Caffrey met Charlie's gaze, a sparkle in his eyes and whispered for his ears only, "It's okay baby boy, I'll still be by your side." The man stepped forward, their shoulders now brushing together, a hand clasping onto Charlie's back to steady him.

That was all it had taken, Charlie would be the lead of a major joint military and joint government task force. He was leading a group of men and women specially assembled to combat internal terrorism.

Charlie thought back to those worlds.

"I'll still be by your side."

Charlie smiled to himself at the fond memory and closed his eyes for a brief reprieve from the present world. He would be okay, he could do this, he could do this.

With a new sense of courage, Charlie fumbled through his room- leaving it in a display of open disorder. He bent slightly, to reach into his closet and retrieved a wooden box. Finely carved and engraved with his initials.

The boots he was wearing gave protest to the bend in his foot- it was an old, familiar feeling. He hadn't worn combat boots in years. They were welcomed, but sent a strange sense of nostalgia through the professor.

Everything was different now, it seemed that in a short matter of time everything Charlie had once known was shifting. The comfort of his home became a place with weak points and too many entrances, his school solace a soft target.

All it had taken was him seeing Caffrey again for his mind to remember the long days of training and combat. The war torn areas he had stumbled into and nearly been silenced in; he remembered it all as if it had been yesterday. And perhaps, it might as well had been.

Charlie was on edge. It might have been years since he had actively taken any part in field work, but everything came crashing back into his psyche. He kept his back toward a wall, always noted the exits, and had algorithms running in his head for escape and how best to deal with an aggressor.

The mathematician slowly opened the lid of the carved wooden box and his fingers ghosted over the metal inside. The cool material sent a shiver down his back, and he closed his eyes to silence his raging heart beat. Calming breaths, one, two...

He held the gun in his hands for a moment more before he carefully tucked it into its holster at his side; barely obscured by the long military style coat he now wore.

A single tear fell then. He remembered when he had been given such a weapon. He had dreaded the day he would use it- for the first time he had used it, he had taken a life. He never missed.

\-------------

"You're an operative now- you need a weapon."

"But you-- you'll always be around right? I can, well, you'll be around with your gun; isn't that...isn't that enough?" Charlie's tone had been quiet, barely above a whisper.

"I'll always be here to protect you, but take it," Caffrey brought the elegantly carved box to Charlie's shaking hands, "let it be a reminder that you are a part of Valkyrie company now." The weight of the box gave away its contents, and Charlie merely nodded numbly.

The box shook in the young mans hands and Caffrey brought his hands to grasp Charlie's, steadying his hands. They met eyes for a brief moment, and a smile crept onto Caffrey's face. Bright and disarming.

"No need to fear baby boy, you'll probably never need to use it. More of a point to show everyone you belong with me, you belong with us, the company."

Again, Charlie had nodded numbly and cradled the box close to his chest as he returned to his quarters. He had placed the box underneath his bed to be completely forgotten until a few months later.

The entire base had become engulfed in flames. The heat radiated from almost everyone point, and the once organized area had been thrown into chaos. The Kitsunes had planted bombs around the home base of Valkyrie company- everything was in disorder.

During the first round of bombings, Caffrey had instructed Charlie to get his gun- things could get ugly and he didn't want the young mathematician to be without a weapon and defenseless. A precaution he had urged, for his sanity.

Charlie had obliged. So he had been crouched near a corner, men bleeding all around him, holding a gun like it was his only lifeline. It was as if he had found himself in a war zone. Flames licked at his heels and screams echoed through the corridors.

"You're running point Charlie. Bring James with you." Caffrey had said.

"I..I can't. I am not, I am--"

"Shhh, it's okay. Just point and shoot just like I taught you. These men need you to be strong. You need to get to the main office, send out alerts that the base has been attacked and we need backup.

Charlie's hands had begun to shake as he shook his head in denial.

"But, why can't you do it? Or James?"

"You know you're the only one who can work those systems and get out an SOS without the Kitsunes knowing. And James is hurt, hardly in a condition to lead."

Caffrey's steel gaze softened, his features became endearing and earnest. "You can do it, I trust you."

Those had been the last words he heard before Charlie and him had broken contact, Charlie clearing each area hallway by hallway, praying he wouldn't run into any enemy fire. He hadn't been so lucky.

Moments into his journey he had been met with enemy opposition. One moment Charlie had watched as a man raised a weapon to fire toward his already wounded friend and the next the man was bleeding out before him. The gun in his hands out in front of him, warm from the recent discharge of a bullet.

It had taken three days before rescue had come, three long and excruciating days. Never in his lifetime had Charlie ever thought he would find himself bloodied and disorientated and holding a gun ready to fire. Ready to shoot and kill.

"Just point and shoot." The words echoed in his mind, that was all it took to take a life; just point and shoot.

\------------

A noise brought the young professor back to the present and he turned abruptly. Gun drawn.

"Whoaa, buddy" The words were questioning, "where did you get that gun? What is going on?"

Charlie's eyes seemed to focus on his brother and his hands brought the gun back to its holster, the younger Eppes lowered his gaze to the floor in dismay.

"I am sorry Don, I am sorry."

Before another word could break the silence, shots rang out and shouts echoed below them.


	4. If I Stop Running, Will I be Okay?

Don had taken a precautionary step back. His hand drawing his weapon, his body shielding his younger brother; but before he could act the same man from the office rushed into the room. Face streaked with blood, a slight pant accompanying his breaths.

Everything was happening at once, and Don was having trouble finding solid footing. Before his mind could fully decide the best course of action he aimed his gun at the familiar man. His tone coming out steadier than he felt.

"Who are you and what do you want with Charlie?"

The reply had been immediate, a sense of urgency coating every word. "I am Jensen Caffrey, and right now we need to leave." Caffrey motioned toward Charlie and Don watched in wonder as his brother- amid the shouts and gunfire- removed himself from Don's protective stance.

What was even more unnerving was that Charlie seemed calm, serine almost. His face was blank, a look of readiness and resolve. Gun raised and ready.

"Don, we need to leave. I'll-- I'll explain I promise. We just, we just need to go...now."

The shouting was getting louder with each passing moment and in seconds Don had acknowledge the need to escape was more pressing than his curiosity.

"Then let's go."

Everything after that was a haze of movement and gunfire. The strange lighting that emits from a fired gun when its dark, they must have cut the power at some point, and the mixture of voices that seemed to echo off the walls.

Don held his own, but as he watch his brother and Caffrey move together everything seemed to fall into place. The ease of their movements, the grace of their maneuvers; it was nearly flawless. A grand display of history, and a lot of it.

It was among the firefight that Don realized just how many years he had been away from his brother.

Their breaths came in tired huffs as the three of them ran from the house. The sound of the commotion getting dimmer and dimmer as they progressed. It wasn't until they reach a nearby alleyway that Caffrey stopped to take a full breath.

"Everyone okay?" Caffrey's voice was hushed.

Don turned to look at Charlie and after deciding he was okay replied, "Yeah, we're both good." Don turned to fully face Charlie, "You okay buddy?" His reply was a brief nod.

Don gave Charlie a questioning look. Charlie in return, bowed his head in brief resignation.

"Why don't we head to base, start our debriefing early. Don's only going to keep digging, might as well bring him and his team along."

The tone rang with an undercurrent of order, but it seemed Charlie was asking more of a question. Caffrey merely gave his head a shake in agreement before the trio continue. They made plans to have Don retrieve his team and get them to meet at a location Charlie would direct them to.

"Wait Charlie, what was that about?" Don called before everyone reverted back to everything is fine and the day is normal.

"Later, Don. Later."


	5. There is Honor in Sacrifice, Pain too

Later he had said. Later Don would get answers. Only later never came.

Don had gone to the office to collect Megan, Granger, and David. It had only taken him about an hour's time. He had met back with Caffrey in the FBI office's parking lot. Caffrey had been waiting for him. Charlie had been a few minutes behind.

The trip to the base was quiet. Everyone on Don's team too unsure to speak. It seemed that everyone was just waiting, waiting for someone else to begin the long conversation. To address the major dilemmas it seemed they were facing.

Out of stubborn mindsets perhaps, or just sheer desire to keep the vehicle cloaked in strangled silence, the group arrived without a single word being spoken. The silence was finally broken when Caffrey beckoned everyone inside.

They walked into a lobby area, of some main building. Probably the place that acted as a main office to inventory and keep track of people. The entire group had made it inside before everything had stilled.

Multiple armed men walked into the building, effortlessly taking control of the building. Charlie recognized a few of the armed assailants immediately. The younger Eppes shifted in slight discomfort before he broadened his stance and set his jaw. If the Kitsunes wanted a fight, he would give them one.

Charlie's first priority was getting his brother and his team out, his second priority; finish the job; if he couldn't do both then he was no use to anyone anyway.

The first voice to break the silence was Charlie's. His words steady, his tone calm. It sent a chill down Don's back, to hear his brother address an armed man so casually.

"Zak, it's been a while. You've been busy I see?"

Zak was the man closest to Charlie, his gun drawn but hanging loosely in his grasp- as if he knew he wouldn't need to use it, but was willing if it became necessary.

"Chuck," the name rolled off of Zak's tongue with ease, "it's been far too long. And here you must of thought you had gotten rid of us." The tone was taunting.

"I knew it wasn't done the minute I realized you hadn't been obtained. I am no fool Zak."

"No, Charlie. Definitely not a fool. Idealistic perhaps. Misguided it seems. To follow that man," Zak pointed an accusing figure toward Caffrey, "was your downfall my friend."

A silence filled the room as Charlie tried to calm his nerves. It seemed having his brother around made things harder. It made it harder to be the person he had once been. The leader he had worked to become.

But a leader doesn't take action to appease others nor do they take action to please others. They act in the best interest of their people and may be met with hatred; but that sacrifice is the mark of a leader. Charlie was ready to be that leader, to be the leader he had been.

"You never were able to find another mathematician able to build that device. Where you? If you had we wouldn't be standing here, now would we?" Every word hit like a physical blow to Zak and Charlie knew he had made the right move.

Before Zak could give a reply Charlie inferred, "You need me, and you know it."

And that was it. That was what it all came down to. It came down to the work Charlie had done for the Kitsunes. Caffrey had once told Charlie that the best lies are partial truths. So when he had gone undercover so long ago, it hadn't been some alias pretending to be a part of the group; it had been Charlie, real and undeniable.

Charlie had been a member of the Kitsunes, no matter what anyone else tried to convince him of otherwise. As it seemed, he had worked with them, been a part of them, and in some instances helped them almost as much as he had hurt them. And there was some hidden place within Charlie that reminded him he had enjoyed it.

He had, after all, joined the group for his own interest, at least in the beginning.

It had been his last project with them that had become his lynch pin. The group had been planning to make a bomb, a big one. One that would level cities, cripple the government. The Kitsunes had turned his work around and used it as a way to make the bomb one of the most intelligent pieces of technology known.

Charlie had built a device that could be attached to the bomb's system that would make it a super bomb, a smart bomb. It would allow the bomb to analyze and decide the best place to go off for maximum damage. Only Charlie had originally build the system to do the exact opposite.

The day Charlie and Caffrey had realized the actual, inverse application to his system Charlie had broken cover and worked to cripple the organization.

"Oh Charlie, you were one of the better ones." Zak implored.

As the two exchanged words Don and the rest of his team stood still, almost scared to break the uncertain balance Charlie and Zak seemed to create. Guns where still trained on them, but the hostility was still under veiled control.

Unlike Don, Caffrey knew the implication of what he knew Charlie was about to do.

"Charlie." The single word a warning. Charlie merely bowed his head, refusing to meet Caffrey's startled gaze.

"Zak, you and me both know what needs to be done. So let's do it, you and me." And in an instance everything changed. The guns were no longer being pointed at Charlie and in understanding, the mathematician had walked calmly toward Zak. Leaving the rest of team Don and Caffrey standing together, surrounded by armed individuals.

"Charlie?" This time Don was the one who called out. Confusion written on his features, fear lingering in his voice.

"Hey man, I am sure we can work something out." David called out in his haste. Concerned something very bad was happening, but just not really sure what exactly made the situation so bad.

Charlie scanned over Don and David, his face forlorn before he reached his gaze toward Colby and Megan. Colby stood at mock attention, his body ridged. Megan had her head tilted every so slightly to her right, in some deep contemplation.

Megan's eyes met Charlie's for a brief second, and she knew. Sweet, sweet Charlie would always be on their side, even if she couldn't figure out why it seemed like he was betraying them now.

Zak seemed to watch Charlie's reactions before he holstered his gun and grabbed Charlie by the shoulder. "Let's go then," and they were gone.


	6. Watch the World Crumble and Maybe in the Ruins You'll Find me

Time after that had worked in some kind of warped, slow motion. Forensics and a whole bundle of personnel had flooded the space in hope to discover just exactly what had gone down. Caffrey had stood with stiff shoulders and bitten out what had occurred to some officers; his patience quickly fraying.

Don, watched the scene before him as he felt a tap at his shoulder. Gentle but persistent.

"Boss?" It had come as a question. Hesitant but lingering. Megan's voice penetrated Don's mind and his gaze slowly turned to meet her line of sight. He gave a brief nod of his head and she continued.

"What should we do now?" The question seemed to resonate within each of them as Don dipped his head and replied in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I don't know."

"We find Charlie." Came Colby's steady voice. Don and Megan averted their gazes to look toward Colby and they nodded in agreement. A silent vow lingering in the air. Unsaid, but accepted.

"David, go talk with Caffrey, see what he plans to do. Get as much information from him as you can." Don stated.

David gave an affirmative before heading off in the direction of Caffrey, while the rest of the team took steps toward the doors in hope to regroup at the office.

It's in the moments that the team realizes they didn't drive themselves there that David and Caffrey approach their retreating forms.

Caffrey strode toward Don and a frown graced his features as he approached.

"I'll drive you guys back. I am basically finished up here." His tone was casual, but everyone could hear how desperately he seemed to want to leave. Don merely gave a shake of his head in acknowledgment and the group turned to leave.

The ride was quick and once they arrive at the FBI office everyone seemed to find a place to collect their own thoughts while Don and Caffrey sectioned off into a conference room nearby.

"What the hell just happened?" Don implored. His tone barely containing the concern he felt for his brother.

"I was going to ask you the same thing Agent." Caffrey replied. "Listen, is there any possibility that Charlie is working some kind of angle?" There's hope in his voice.

"Of course Charlie has to be working an angle, there is no way my brother would willingly want to help those people. Especially from what I've learned about them." Don's tone was clipped. Every muscle in his body taught with tension.

"You didn't know Charlie when he first started this operation." Caffrey's voice dropped slightly and he regains his composure within seconds. "Either way, we need to work this in both directions, just in case."

"Just in case what? My brother is some kind of terrorist." It's the raised tone of Don that catches the other's attention and they all seemed to find their way over toward the two men.

"Okay, so where would they go?" Colby's voice echoed into the area, breaking the silence with ease. His question offered in the vein hope to subside the anger that had been collecting a few minutes prior.

"Probably to take Charlie to the device so he can get his program into the system?" David almost immediately replied.

"In that case, where is a good place to keep a bomb?" Don offered, as everyone seems to look toward Caffrey for any helpful information.

"How large is the device anyway?" David offhandedly asks.

"Relatively small for the amount of destruction it can accomplish. Maybe the size of a mini refrigerator. It was built to be portable. Charlie's system would allow the device to find the most strategic place to go off and it would be able to determine the magnitude of the device."

"So, basically with Charlie's system the bomb can become a device of maximum damage." His tone stoic as Don took steady strides to lessen his nerves.

"Yes," was the only reply.

Before anyone else can give something to add to the conversation a group of agents rush into the area. Panic on their faces, their hurried steps reeking of an emergency. The phones begin to ring and it seems as if in a single moment the entire place has erupted into a state of chaos.

Don leaves the conference room with ease and enters the main area in record time. His voice was steady when he calls to anyone whose willing to answer.

"What's going on?" His words barely break the commotion before an agent nearby turns and looks at Don and his team as if just realizing they were there.

"A bomb went off at CalSci. The damage is pretty bad, but relatively contained. So far the area seems to have been relatively vacant."

The second the agent said 'bomb' Don's attention was sufficiently captured. Something was going down and he had a bad feeling about it. The room around him seemed to spin out of focus and before he can focus his mind Megan places a hand on his shoulder to steady him.

As the reality of what was happening became clear in Don's mind it seemed as if his body was fighting to create motion. Just like when the agent worked cases, he was never one to sit still and wait. He needed to get to the crime scene, if only to decide it had nothing to do with Charlie- he had to be sure. God he hoped this had nothing to do with his brother.

As if reading his mind, David motioned for the team to leave, gesturing for Caffrey to join them as well. And that was all it took. Without anyone really knowing it- everything was about to fall apart.

For perhaps sometimes, things must be destroyed in order to be fixed. For among the rubble of the bomb, bodies would be; and one of them, just so happen to be of a professor Charles Eppes.


	7. I Mourn the Man We Burried

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the last chapter y'all. Hope you all enjoy it. It's a tad longer than most chapters I believe, namely because I got a little carried away and the ending I had thought out kind of took a turn in a longer direction. None the less, hope you guys like it.

Charlie had known it was going to be a bad idea. He had known from the very beginning that this was something that only he alone could accomplish. So when the moment had come, he had taken it with both hands and a steady grip.

This was the moment, the moments that really mattered. As he had walked out of the room with Zak by his side he found himself falling into a nature gate. His paces falling in line with that of the man beside him.

It was just so easy. So natural with the man that is hurt. As he listened to the confused voices of his friends, he dared himself to keep looking forward. Now was not the time to be weak. He knew what he was doing, and it was time he followed through.

"Relax Charlie, you know you belong with us." The tone was casual, lingering and fraying the very edges of Charlie's mind. Everything was falling apart, each piece at a time and Charlie could do nothing but watch his world decay.

"I know." Was Charlie's soft reply. Zak gave a nod of his head, and a smile seemed to dance on his lips. As Charlie began to take in his surrounding, he realized that the car he had unconsciously gotten into was moving toward somewhere familiar.

At Charlie's questioning gaze, Zak gave a knowing smile. It made the young professor feel chills, every cell of his body screaming at him to run.

"We thought your very own school would be a good place to keep the device. Wouldn't you agree?" Just like everything else the man said, the words seemed to effortlessly roll of his tongue. With an ease and grace. It was soothing almost.

His only reply was a nod from the man beside him, and that seemed to be enough to placate the man. Zak straightened in his seat the closer they got, and as time ticked by Charlie knew something was off.

Once they arrived, Charlie slowly exited the vehicle, his strides matching those of Zak. Keeping himself a step behind so that he could follow where the man led, and it surprised Charlie how easy it was. How naturally being with Zak felt.

The campus seemed foreign to Charlie now. As he walked with hurried steps into one of the downstairs laboratories, his haven had taken on the mask of something else. Something more sinister. For he knew that what he was being led to was not something good.

It took mere minutes before they found themselves before the device. It was just as Charlie had remembered. Every piece delicately in place, the metal clean and sleek. It was hard to imagine how such a beautiful piece of engineering could be the downfall for so many; could cause destruction beyond contemplation.

As Charlie seemed to memorize every detail of the device Zak stood back admiring Charlie's intense and passionate gaze. Zak had always been fond of Charlie. Charlie had been one of the good ones, that was until he had met Caffrey and joined the man's misguided escapade.

"I'll need time, and some supplies." Charlie seemed to realize. He looked up only to catch Zak's lingering gaze. Zak gave a swift motion of his arm and Charlie's eyes followed the movement to a table of various trinkets.

"It's all here Charlie, everything you need. Anything you want."

Charlie merely bowed his head in slight embarrassment. A light red tinting his cheeks. The movement gave him the ability to take a clear look around the area and he noticed with delight that the entire operation of the Kitsune's seemed to be present. He could do this, Charlie could be that unassuming professor he once was; the man he had been pretending to be around Don.

It seemed that all those years of pretending to be clueless and unassuming around his brother had paid off. Charlie could do this. Every single person there would deserve their fate; if only in the sense that they were not innocent. They were the sacrifice for the greater good. Better them, then so many others. Or that was what Charlie was telling himself as justification.

The work was slow, Charlie seemed to make the simple tasks take longer than usual, but he knew he could only buy so much time. If Don didn't find him, he would have to take the next step in his plan. The contingency option.

The young professor let out a shaky laugh as he thought on his need and desperate hope that his big brother would always save him. He was a grown man for God's sake; but there he was hoping beyond all hope that Don would show up in the nick of time. It was a boy's dream.

"Finished." Came the tempered voice. Zak was quickly by his side, a smile licking at the corners of his mouth. A manic kind of magic dancing in his eyes.

"Well done." Zak gave a pat to his shoulder and waved over a few others.

While the men all admired the device Charlie, in silent resignation, sent a prayer to anything that would listen.

And only a few moments later the device would sound. An eruptive force would crumple the structural integrity of the building and everything would come crashing down.

It took minutes for emergency responders to arrive at CalSci and only a few more before Don and his team arrived with Caffrey in tow. Everyone watched in distraught calmness as they took in the sight of rubble where buildings used to reside.

The whole mess seemed to work in a disconnected kind of order. People where rushing, actions where being made, and among the chaos Don had found his brother. Form broken and bruised. He had been breathing, but just barely.

Among the wreckage would be a few other survivors, and pieces that would be clearly identified as fragments of a bomb.

It would take weeks to fully sort everything out. And during those weeks Charlie had been brought to the hospital, where medical personnel had spent long and choppy nights keeping the young man alive. When he had finally woken up, the man had been interviewed again and again; but he had been glad for it.

His past was finally going to be put to bed. Everything was being finished. People were dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

It would be written in the report, that a one Charles Eppes had destroy the Kitsune's disastrous plans. The system he had made was a back-wiring of the bomb, overriding the other commands and rendering Charlie in control of the device.

It would state, that a mild mannered professor had done the only plausible thing to do to save lives. He had taken the sacrifice of creating a minimal loss situation and had been ready to give his life so others could keep theirs.

Written in bolded black ink, on a paper filed away within a government facility, would read that Charlie had detonated the bomb in the sheer knowledge that a bomb can only be used once, and well it seemed a whole lot better for that first time to be at CalSci with only himself and the Kitsunes around than in a major metropolis city, or anywhere else for that matter.


End file.
